


Total Eclipse of the Heart

by FunkMcLovin



Category: Galactic Congruity
Genre: Aliens, F/F, Outer Space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-16
Packaged: 2020-10-17 06:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20616833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FunkMcLovin/pseuds/FunkMcLovin
Summary: Puritas Falsus seems like easy pickings for galactic bounty hunter Dawn Corona, a little human with something to prove. She thinks if she can bring in a legendary Ibis as a bounty, her fellow hunters at the guild HAVE to surely respect her! But Puritas is more slippery than Dawn anticipates.What kind of zany, high-flying shenanigans will the duo get up to?





	1. Hunters and Huntees

**Author's Note:**

> This is a scrapped fic. Please enjoy!

Puritas Falsus wasn't a criminal.

  
At least, not by her standards. Sure, it sounded bad if you added up all the cities and planets she'd wrecked up and hastily departed, but that was a short list compared to the other Ibis she knew! Compared to them, she was practically holy. A saint, a picture of restraint. And yet, despite her self-perceived innocence, there was her photograph on a wanted poster. The bounty wasn't even any good, either, in Puritas's opinion. A measly twenty thousand chips. That was enough to buy groceries for a week, if you were a sedentary elderly woman. As Puritas stared at the poster, desperate frustration welled up inside her. She tore down the poster, crumpling it in her hands. She was incognito on some backwater planet, so she highly doubted she'd be spotted, but even so, the poster just pissed her off!

  
She took a deep breath. "Keep your cool, Puri," she told herself slowly. "This is how we avoid more unnecessary attention."

  
She tossed the poster in the garbage. No one seemed to care that she'd just torn down a wanted poster from the official Galactic Congruity's bulletin board, everyone else was too busy bustling about, catching shuttles to other planets and collecting luggage. She had just stepped off a shuttle of her own, forced to use public transit instead of her old spaceship belonging to her sister due to a run-in with the law. Puri fiddled with her hands, her chitinous fingers clicking together.

  
Despite Puri's minuscule stature, she was rather intimidating. Like all Ibis, she looked relatively docile, spare for huge, shiny clawed hands and long, slender horns protruding from their skulls. Puri had pale red eyes, appearing pink presently, but they were known to glow red when she became enraged. Puri looked a little like a skittish bunny, picking at her clothes, which currently consisted of a big fluffy white sweater with a turtleneck. At first glance, one might assume she was a little lost child. Some passersby gave her a curious look, as Ibis such as Puritas were not common, especially in this neck of the woods. Most of the people who bustled about the terminal appeared to be fleshy and pink. Puritas racked her brain, trying to remember what these things were called. "Hue-mans?" She checked a sign near the entrance.

  
"Welcome to Luna!" It said in shining text.

  
She walked nervously to the door, exiting into the busy street.

  
So this was the Earth moon, Luna. It was gorgeous, the rustic, well-maintained historic terraforming dome sprawled over Puri's head, exposing the still-black sky under its transparency, even in the bright daylight. It was positively bustling, humans zipping in and out of the terminal she'd just exited, going to and from work, chatting things humans concerned themselves with. Puritas kept her head low, shuddering softly. This many people bustling about in one place made her anxious.

  
A cab was hailed as quickly as possible, and as Puritas slipped inside, the din of the street fell away. She sighed softly with relief, turning to regard the cab driver.

  
"Where to, Miss?" Asked the Cabbie, her face turned away from Puritas.

  
"Motel Six." Puritas said uncertainly. She'd never heard of the place before, but it was the only hotel on this rock that didn't ask for ID. Puritas needed a place to lay low while this ridiculous bounty cleared, and pickings were slim.

  
"Motel Six." The cab driver repeated, a little uncertainly. It appeared to Puritas that this woman was new at being a cabbie, which, for some reason, set Puritas at ease.

  
"Pardon me, miss?" Puritas asked politely. "Do you... Are you new at this?"

  
Her voice was impossibly smooth, delicate, like a ripple in the water of a glassy lake. Two striking eyes pierced the rear view mirror, staring up at the driver from the back seat, her head cocked to the side like a curious puppy.

  
"Heh." The woman turned into the rear view mirror, gazing into Puritas's pale alien eyes. "You could say that. It's just a temporary gig."

  
There was something so infectiously sly and charming about this human. Puritas was glad, frankly. She'd always heard how violent and bad-tempered humans were, but in her limited experience, they were rather docile so far. It was a wonder that such squishy, frail creatures seemed to strike fear, or at least worry, into the hearts of some of the most advanced cultures in the system.

  
As the cab drove down the busy streets, Puritas relaxed in the back seat. For the first time since the incident, she felt at safe, the cab driver putting her mind at ease. She looked much cuter, so relaxed, a smile spreading onto her face, lighting up her rosy cheeks. Ibis skin was pure white, but their faces flushed just like humans' did.

"What's your name?" Asked the cabbie. "I'm Dawn. Dawn Corona."

  
Corona. That name sounded familiar to Puritas, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Puri was currently using an alias due to her bounty, but this little cabbie seemed trustworthy, and Puritas hated lying, even to strangers. After a moment of hesitation, Puritas spoke.

  
"Puritas Falsus. Most people call me Puri, though!" Her voice was so chipper, so kind. The cab driver cracked a half-smile that Puri could see from the rear-view.

  
"Well, Puri," said Dawn. "Welcome to Luna. I'd shake your hand, but I'm sort of occupied." The driver, Dawn, chuckled, and Puri did the same, infected by Dawn's cheer. They were driving into the neighborhoods, now, the noise of the city falling away as other cars became more and more sparse. Puritas, despite her somewhat nervous disposition, loved making new friends, and she was excited to chat more with this human.

  
"So what do you do normally, if driving cabs is your side job?" Puri asked after a stretch of comfortable silence. She wondered how far the motel was- She didn't have much cash to pay this kind cabbie and she wanted to make sure to tip.

  
"I'm a hunter." Replied Dawn simply. Puri nodded. A hunter! Fascinating.

  
"What do you hunt?" Puri leaned forward, hands on the seat, straining her belt buckle. Her smile lit up the back seat as she peered excitedly into the rear-view.

  
There was a pause as Dawn pulled into a driveway. Puritas unclicked her belt buckle, peeking out the window. Dawn was silent.

  
"Er. Is this the correct place?" Puri asked hesitantly, looking back up at Dawn. The little cabbie was new, and this didn't look like a motel. Puritas was sure Dawn just made an innocent mistake.

  
Outside the cab was an empty parking lot in front of a large, abandoned supermarket. A few stray shopping carts sat among the weeds that sprang from the pavement, the lines of the lot long faded into yellow smudges. Puritas felt her nerves slowly come back, her chipper smile fading. Dawn leaned back, finally speaking, her mouth moving slowly in a casual, smug drawl.

  
"You wanna know what I hunt?" Dawn put the cab into park, opening the glove box and pressing a small, blue button.

  
By the time the barrier slid up to separate the rear of the cab from the front, and she'd reached into her pocket and tacked Puritas's bounty poster to the rear view mirror, it was too late.

  
"I hunt bounties." Dawn purred as Puritas sat frozen in horror.

  
That was when the energy bonds sprung up and curled around Puri's big hands.

  
"Oh, come on!" Puritas whined, staring back at her own face in the poster desperately. "Y-you can't do this! We're friends now, right?" To her earnest plea, Dawn laughed.

"Friends? I don't make friends with marks, pretty girl." Dawn's words made Puritas's face twist from sadness to anger.

  
Puri struggled against the shackles, growling with the rage of a caged beast, thrashing in the back seat. Two heavy duty power shackles slapped onto her wrists and then the knock out gas started seeping in, potent enough to put a Genovian Monolith under. Then, just for good measure, at least half a dozen Xivian sleep darts popped out of a hidden mechanism and struck her. Puri managed to break the right-hand shackle before the gas began to affect her. Ibis were powerful creatures, there was a lot of muscle compacted into their slight bodies, but even so, Puri had a blood stream, and now it was chock-full of tranquilizer, her lungs full of Dawn's gas. The facts were the facts. She'd been bested pretty decisively.

  
And there was nothing Puri hated more than being bested decisively. Helpless to circumstance, she blacked out, slumping in the seat of the taxi, casting one last vindictive look towards Dawn.

"Fuck youuuu..." Puri whined as her vision faded, her last sight before going unconscious was Dawn's absolutely self-assured smirk. What had once been so charming was now utterly infuriating.

  
Dawn Corona started the car up again, sighing in a self-satisfied little huff. She'd spared no expense on those tranquilizers, they were enough to fell an Elephant!

  
The Bounty Hunter's Guild had not taken Dawn's application seriously the first time. Or the second. The third only got through because she'd stormed into one of their lodges and made a scene. Through sheer persistence and more than a few colorful threats, she'd wound up a licensed and accredited bounty hunter, a mercenary crew that spanned the stars, taking on dangerous criminals, pirates, and terrorists, anyone the law couldn't or wouldn't dare touch. A band of rogues, soldiers of fortune, and hired guns from every walk of life. The toughest of the tough. And she got in!

  
So, why then was she not being taken seriously?

  
As Dawn drove back to her ship, she ruminated on her career.

  
There were scores of jobs locked away from her, big paydays 'above her rank'. The Guild thought she was unqualified. It didn't matter that she'd taken down Rakshas the Hive Queen, or Gorblonian mob boss Zthrix Zrozz, or even the Dread Pirate Nebulon. No, her peers simply refused to take her seriously, treated her like a kid. Sure she'd only just turned twenty, but so what?

  
But recently, the opportunity of a lifetime had cropped up like three lucky sevens on a slot machine. A posting for an Ibis, in her own clearance level, too. Undoubtedly it had been so low ranked, with such a small bounty, to trick expendable, brash idiots into risking their lives, to weed out the weaklings. Unfortunately, Dawn was one of those brash morons with something to prove. Because, if she captured an Ibis of all things, then she'd have to be taken seriously.

  
Her dumb plan actually worked, too. Cap held low to hide her face, jacket collar propped up, she might have stuck out like a sore thumb to anyone looking for shifty individuals, but she'd passed just enough for a taxi servicewoman.

  
Getting hold of a taxi had been a stroke of luck too, she had managed to bribe someone on Luna to borrow their cab for the day.

  
Dawn was pretty proud of herself! She'd been resourceful and tricky and to show for it, she had an Ibis knocked out in her back seat. Her ticket to next week's groceries and the respect of her peers back at the guild. She couldn't be happier.

  
The taxi cab pulled into the parking lot of the dock where Dawn's ship was kept. Puri slumped in the seat, drooling a little, her eyes lazily shut as Dawn opened the door to drag her back onto her ship and into a nice, cozy little holding cell.

  
Dawn surveyed her capture. Wow. This...this was the so called Destroyer, huh? Dawn had been expecting a lot of things, but a bratty, sniveling child had not been very high on the list. Still, she was an Ibis, so she was glad she'd sprung for all the extra precautions.

  
Dragging Puritas's drunken ass onto the ship had been like trying to pull a freight train by her bare hands. What the hell did this girl eat? Dawn finally got her inside and prepared for transport.

The ship cleared Luna's atmosphere without incident, and as Dawn set the autopilot, she trudged back to the holding cell to wait for her little Ibis to wake up.

  
Puritas awoke in what was clearly a ramshackle, repurposed cargo transport shuttle, probably bought second hand fromsome mining planetoid now that it could no longer handle carrying precious geodes. Glamorous, sleek cruiser it was not. What was Dawn supposed to do? All her money had to go towards fixing this hunk of junk and prepping it for transporting a different sort of cargo. Otherwise, what was she supposed to do with her bounties? Lock them in her bedroom? Not a chance.

  
Adjusting her cap over brunette hair, with her ponytail pulled through the rear opening, as she approached the makeshift cell, Dawn looked the part of an ambitious rookie. A color scheme of crimson and black, she was unmistakable against the rust and dim metal. A red tinted sleeveless jacket and cargo pants were worn over a black body-suit that subtly hugged her skin. The 'young punk' look was complete with fingerless gloves, the cap, and some beat up sneaks all the way back from Earth. She wasn't exactly dressed to impress. But functionality over form was key!

  
Standing before the holo-barrier, she flashed the ID badge that identified her as a member of the Hunter's Guild, beaming with pride. She regarded her capture from on high.

"Dawn Corona, bodyguard, licensed bounty hunter, and soon-to-be worlds-class badass. But you can just call me your captor." Dawn paced, watching Puritas carefully as the Ibis's pale red eyes followed her lazily, her faculties slowly returning.

"You know, I heard stories about Ibis, and I gotta say...kind of a let down." She offered up a shrug and a wistful sigh before thumping her chest, "Or maybe I'm just too rad for my own good!"

  
"Regardless," Dawn snapped back to attention, pointing at Puritas as if she had just been accused in a trial, "I'd get comfy if I were you. It's gonna be a long ride back to Processing. But don't worry. Once that's done, your ass is in a cryo-pod and you're off to the Galactic Congruity's... I dunno, maximum security prison or whatever they plan to do with you."

  
'Comfy' didn't really extend to much, given she had a cot that was about as worthy of a prison cell, and...well, there was a sink and toilet at least. Not that either were much use with Puritas all but bolted to the wall with energy tethers. Not about to break those with physical strength alone.

  
Puri listened to Dawn's smug tirade with bored interest, more fixated on looking around the inside of the cell, now that she could see clearly. This was nothing less than a major inconvenience. Puritas couldn't help but feel betrayed, the kind cab driver staring at her, speaking with such condescension.

  
"That's not how it's going to shake out." Puri said flatly after the human woman finally stopped talking. "I'm going to escape and wreck your dumb ship." As soon as the words left her mouth, her eyes widened, suddenly and a smile broadened over her face, realization striking her. A sigh of relief escaped her throat. "Oh my god, actually? Thank you. You just brought me on board my ticket out of here!"

  
Steal the ship. It was perfect. Puri had been needing a replacement, and here was a misguided human, dropping one into her lap!

  
But... There was also the issue of being bound to the wall with energy tethers. Probably the only thing of quality in this whole dumb rig.

  
Energy tethers. This girl had really done her homework. These were the only things that could hold the power of an Ibis back. Looks like Puri couldn't rely on those big hands of hers, she'd have to resort to the ole Ibis wiles.

  
"Hey." She said after a long bout of contemplative silence. "I've got to piss."

  
Seeing the doubtful look on her captor's face, she squirmed for maximum effect. "Don't be like that! Ibis piss smells super gross, and I'm not above going on your floors, alright?? So don't think I won't. I'm just warning you!"

  
She eyed the toilet longingly, whining while she squirmed in place. As gambits for her freedom went, this one was pretty low-brow. She could convince Dawn that her blaster would keep her safe if it was trained on Puri at all times, but there was no way someone so prepared and collected would fall for that dumb ruse, everyone knew Ibis skin was too dense for standard blaster shots.

  
"I'm gonna go, lady. Here it comes." Sure enough, a warning shot dripped onto the floor. This was so embarrassing. Puri would make this smug little lady pay for this.

  
Dawn did not appreciate being underestimated and condescended to, at all. She liked it from someone who looked nearly half her height and age even less, and less even still from someone who was supposed to be a captive. It was like Puri didn't care that she was in a cell, under Dawn's power. Just another alien not taking Dawn seriously. Who the hell did this girl think she was? All Puritas was destroying was her nerves! Still, pissing on her nice floors didn't seem ideal.

  
If Puritas thought herself so smart, she might have to reconsider. Because Dawn reached for a panel on the outside of the cell, and with the press of a button, Puritas was let go. Which allowed her to promptly fall onto her ass. If she really was lucky, it might not be onto the piss stained part.

  
Unfortunately, nobody here seemed very lucky.

  
With an exasperated sigh, and one hand on her hip, Dawn motioned towards the toilet,

"Hurry up with it then. Oh, and before you think of doing anything stupid." She knocked on the translucent wall between them, causing the material to ripple, "Kinetic barrier. You try and smash it, it'll just smash you right back. This'll go over a lot better for all of us if you just suck it up and take the L like a big girl."

  
A kinetic barrier... This was too obvious. This master tactician was probably trying to lure Puri into a trap. A kinetic barrier was a mere sun burn even to an adolescent Ibis like her. She narrowed her eyes, sitting on the John. She wasn't lying about the smell.

  
Puri's pale red eyes moved to the wall around the kinetic barrier. The rest of the prison seemed to be made of metal. Metal was no big deal when Puri's claws were so sharp and tough. Was this even a proper prison? Was Dawn even prepared to keep Puri here?

  
Well, as they say: Nothing to it but to do it. Puri leaped off the toilet and seized her chance.

  
Instead of aiming for the kinetic barrier, Puri sprang forward, grasping a chunk of the wall, sinking her claws into it. The sheet metal bent like so much tin foil in Puri's massive grip. Dawn's eyes widened, her hand squeezing for her blaster.

  
Puri blinked, holding a hunk of sheet metal in her big hand. That was easy. Dawn collected her jaw from the floor and began to fire upon the Ibis in a panic. The two began to caterwaul, Puri hissing and crying out from the blaster shots ricocheting off her and into the walls of the hallway, Dawn howling in fear, blasting impudently at the escaped Ibis. Puri tossed the metal at Dawn, who fell to the ground with a thud.

  
Puritas siezed her chance and dashed down the hall blindly, out of sight around a corner, her howls and cries becoming softer as she delved deeper into the ship.

  
By the time Dawn dusted herself off, the Ibis was nowhere to be seen. Dawn grit her teeth, kicking the wall.

"Damn it!" She hissed. The Ibis hadn't even been contained for an hour yet! Dawn put her face in her hands. She had to find Puri before the crazy bitch wrecked it up even more. Not that this clunky junker had a lot of places to hide, but it was a pain in her ass all the same. Grabbing an injector with more of that heavy duty sedative that had worked so well, she holstered it before checking her blaster. Standard issue, but it should do the job, right?

"You poor thing..." She said forlornly to the hole in the cell wall. She'd have to shuck out some serious dough to fix that hole. This Ibis was proving more trouble than she was worth.

  
"What kind of maniac tears into a ship wall without knowing what's on the other side?" Dawn muttered to herself. She could've torn a hole into the void of space and devastated the whole ship! Sure, Ibis were rumored to be able to survive the cold vastness, but that wouldn't have exactly been the brightest move all the same.

  
Sauntering off in the general direction Puri had bolted, Dawn began her thorough sweep, grumbling,

  
"You know you could have killed us both, right?" She called into the quiet, humming ship. "Well, me, mostly, and then what? You'd have been left hurtling about in space, assuming the ship didn't just get sucked into a black hole." Dawn paced slowly, checking around corners, blaster in one hand, injector in the other. "Ugh, stupid brat...why'd you have to go and complicate this? Could've been so simple! But noooooo." Dawn crept past a stack of crates that Puri was currently hiding behind. "If you come out now, Puritas, I might go easy on you."

  
It started to dawn on Puri. Slowly but surely she realized... This girl had no plan at all. She was playing it by ear, and poorly at that. The fear in Puri's stomach hardened into anger, irritation. Her pale red eyes began to glow a deeper crimson.

  
She'd been captured by some fluke by this rookie, and now she was being dragged around the galaxy like King Kong being dragged back to New York, only to be turned in for a bounty.

  
She decided that it was time for her to accept the facts. Nothing would be done fuming behind a crate about the situation's absurdity. Puri decided it was time to act.

  
She also decided that it was time for the hunter to become the hunted.


	2. Tables: Turnt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dawn becomes a prisoner on her own ship.

Puritas slunk out from behind the box, picking her way through the halls, making carefully sure to stay out of Dawn's sight, totally silent. She would let Dawn's fear fester, the same fear in seeing a spider and looking back to find it missing. Puri would be that missing spider.

Dawn was lucky Puri didn't tear a hole in the hull and take her chances drifting in space.

Occasionally, Puri scratched a claw against the metal wall, the soft sound reverberating in the quiet ship, serving to tease, to make Dawn shiver, building the tension in the darkened vessel.

Finally, when Puri decided her game had worked Dawn into enough of a confused state, she found herself right behind Dawn, the little human clutching her gun desperately. Puri squinted at what Dawn was carrying in her other hand, it looked like a green syringe. More drugs for Puri, probably. No thank you. Puri didn't know what it was, but it seemed wise to disarm Dawn ASAP.

Puri finally broke her silence, calling out before sweeping Dawn's legs out from under her in one smooth motion!

Dawn hit the hull, hard. At least her chest had kept her face from bashing into the metal beneath her. There was the sound of glass shattering, Dawn winced when she realized her precious tranquilizer was splattered all over the floor.. She whipped around, weapon drawn and directed at her sneaky assailant.

"Don't move! I don't have to bring you in alive, you know." She was pretty sure she couldn't kill this girl with a blaster alone, she prayed Puri didn't know that. The unamused look on Puri's face made Dawn's poor heart sink. She definitely did know.

"Oh, thank god." Said Puri. The sarcasm was palpable, complete with an eye roll.

She slunk on top of Dawn like a cat, hands on either side of her head. It was rather intimate, now. Puri's breath was naturally slow, her body comparatively warm even to a soft warm little human's.

The gun wouldn't hurt her with any semblance of permanence, but it wouldn't feel terrific, either, so she closed her hand around Dawn's much smaller one, gently attempting to free it from Dawn's grasp. Dawn's hand suddenly felt weak.

Puri was straddling Dawn's hips, now, for good measure. Her surprising weight wasn't painful, but it was certainly too much to move. She was like a hot sand bag with fantastic legs.

"You're not bringing me in at all, dummy." Puri scoffed. "I'm a little disappointed, frankly. You were doing so so good!" She spoke with a dripping, intentional condescension, but she certainly wasn't lying. She mused more to herself, now, her free hand scratching her head. "Didn't know humans were so... Wily! I like it. I think I thought wrong about you guys, I thought you were just another class five species filling up space between stars."

She eased her body closer, casually, smiling. "I mean. You're still getting captured aboard your own vessel like a bitch, so. Maybe I shouldn't give you that much credit." She squeezed, the hand on Dawn's blaster still strong and tight. She hummed, leaning into Dawn's neck, breathing softly, directly onto it, laughing a light laugh that certainly did not befit the vicious persona she was trying to exude.

"If you let go now, I might go easy on you."

Puri thought she was being menacing, like the villains in her favorite books! In reality, this confusing display read more as salacious. Dawn's head spun. Was this freaky alien hitting on her?

"I don't think so." Dawn spoke through gritted teeth. She wouldn't go down so easily, not when Puri was being so frustratingly prurient. Her brow furrowed, lips curling back in a sneer. She wouldn't be seduced by a mark on her own ship. She shifted underneath Puri as best she could and reared back, boldly bludgeoning her head against Puri's like she'd seen in so many action movies, to knock her off.

Unfortunately, two things were wrong with that plan of action.

One, butting your head against an enemy was a maneuver reserved for the silver screen.

And two, Ibis were really sturdy on the outside, even when they didn't look it.

"Ah, fuck," All Dawn managed to do was full-on butt her head against what felt like a steel beam. Puri blinked, completely unaffected by Dawn's little head clunk.

Just like that, the hunter's head fell back and she was out like a light, knocked out by her own maneuver. Her fingers finally released their grasp, meaning her weapon could be snatched with ease.

"How embarrassing." Puri said to Dawn's unconscious body.

She hoisted the red garbed girl over her shoulder, poking around the ship. It was pretty sadly small, but it seemed sturdy, a classic transport vessel, even if it had seen better days. Puri didn't really care at this point, she was just happy to have a ship to use, she was sick of public transportation.

Puri deposited the human in the same makeshift cell that she had deposited Puri in, stepping back through the gaping hole Puritas had made. She lit the energy shackles back up and deposited Dawn's unconscious body in them, and the tables were officially flipped, Dawn locked up in her own binds. That was quick.

Hours passed, Dawn gradually fading back into consciousness from her headbutt extravaganza. When Dawn finally came to for good, the ship was rattling around her, still sailing through space, but at a much faster speed. Looks like Puri was taking them somewhere.

After a moment of lonely captivity, Puri re-entered, sitting on the floor wordlessly, staring up at Dawn curiously, head cocked, eyes bright.

"The restraints are for your own good. Don't want you doing something stupid. You're really good at doing something stupid, after all." Puri giggled.

Oh, of all the...when she got out of here, she was gonna stick her foot so far up that girl's ass.

Puri had arrived just in time for Dawn to kick into full gear, and by that point she was struggling and trying to kick and tug and hurl as many curses as she could Puri's way, in a lot of different languages. Puri wondered how one woman picked up so many foul words exclusively. She thought Dawn looked like a child throwing a tantrum.

Of course, she wasn't going anywhere. Not like this. These things were designed to hold an Ibis, after all, no human was getting out of her through sheer tenacity alone. Maybe she could get clever.

Hung up on the wall like a decoration, Dawn simmered and sulked, rolling her eyes at the smugness coming her way.

"The boys at the lodge would never let her live this down..." Dawn muttered sullenly to herself.

Puritas looked absolutely elated, a far cry from the sniveling child Dawn had locked up. Now, Puri paced around Dawn like a curious kitten, eyeing her and the shackles, prodding Dawn's sides, just being altogether too close for Dawn's liking.

"Here, I've been practicing human greetings!" Puri stuck out her hand. "Hell-lo! I'm Puri!" She waited for a drawn out moment. "Oh! You can't shake back. Heh." She put her hands behind her back, bouncing on her heels. Without those big nasty claws showing, she looked far more disarming. They were in for a long ride, so Puritas figured they might as well get to know each other.

"What's your story, lady?" Puri asked, leaning on the wall by her elbow, blinking those big pale eyes at her new captive.

"Are you serious," Dawn replied bluntly, glaring daggers, "Are you seriously doing this? Gonna add insult to injury? You screwed up my job, you took my ship, I'm pretty sure I have a concussion, and now you wanna ask me what my fuckin' 'story' is like we're meeting for coffee?" At least Dawn had enough control over her hands to flip Puri the bird. Oh, look, a mating pair.

So this is what other species meant by "humans' rustic, colloquial charm."

Puri's face went from a hopeful, friendly gaze to a sad, dejected irritation. She crossed her arms, frowning.

"I was just trying to be nice... It's not like I'm the one who kidnapped someone else." She pouted. The pair was acting like two children on the playground.

Puri had no intention of killing this human, of course, despite Dawn's fears. She would just dump her off at the next stop with a decent space bus and be on her merry way. On the one hand, she was about to do Dawn dirty by stealing her ship, but on the other, Dawn was responsible for drugging and capturing her. Besides, she needed this hunk of junk to get where Puri was going, wherever THAT was.

"You know... It's a pity. You seem to be a pretty good bounty hunter. I mean, you brought me down, for like a whole couple hours there! Why not go after an easier mark? Isn't the idea to like, stay alive??" Puri was unflappably cheerful, curiosity in the face of Dawn's open hostility. When it came to people being pissed off at her, Puri was unflappable at this point.

"For the record," She stated, gesturing towards Puri with her hands, heedless of the girl's fixated gaze, "It's not kidnapping if you're a wanted criminal. Which you are. And considering you are what you are, and don't think I know, I highly doubt you're being framed. I was completely within galactic law to take you down. Which I did by the way. Me. A human. Outsmarting and capturing an Ibis. Which is pretty badass...ignoring the current circumstances."

"If you really have to know, so you know what name to curse with your dying breath when I inevitably get out of here, kick your ass, and turn you in, fine. It's Dawn." She puffed out her chest with pride, as if she'd just revealed she was a hidden celebrity, "Dawn Corona. Bounty Hunter Extraordinaire... In progress, at least."

"And for the record, you were an easier mark then you might think," She stuck out her tongue at Puri. "I just. Wasn't prepared for wild levels of stupidity, that's all. But no, the point isn't about staying alive. Which, by the way, I still am. The point was to capture one of the most terrifying creatures in the galaxy single-handed, blow everyone's minds with how incredible I am, and then ride the rocket to legendary fame."

"I'm not that terrifying..." Puri puffed out her cheeks, finally looking away. "I'm strong and powerful, that doesn't mean I'm scary!" She looked back at Dawn, walking closer, poking a claw at her chest matter of factly. "It seems more like you'd be remembered for drugging and imprisoning a harmless little girl." Dawn raised her eyebrows. Did this monster just call herself a "little girl?"

Puri got into Dawn's face, hot breath on her pretty visage. "And guess what? Sometimes people have good reasons to break laws. Who knows what the people you're hunting down are like? It seems to me like you're just a big bully who's too stupid to do anything else for money."

"And you're not even that good at this, are you?" She said, patting Dawn's bonds.

Puri didn't care that that might have been too harsh. She turned her back away from Dawn.

"Whatever. Rot, for all I care. I'll drop you off on Pegasus, you can catch a shuttle to wherever it is you live. Probably a garbage can."

There was a moment of tears in the corner of Dawn's eyes, lip quivering almost pathetically. Thank goodness the Ibis had turned her back just in time. Still, the brunette took a deep breath and shook it off, hands clenched as a way to relieve the tension. Dawn had to be tough.

"Yeah, well," She injected, just the slightest hint of wavering throwing off her cool, calm voice, "Last I checked there aren't really a lot of good reasons for destroying cities. Or space stations. Or a minor moon, at least once. So, you're right. You're not scary. But you are dangerous. And you are a threat. You're good at acting like a brat, but that won't fool me, and it won't fool anyone else. Ibis are like forces of nature, and the older they get, the more damage they cause. You may look like a kid, but I know deep down that you're a monster, nothing you say or do can ever change that."

Dawn was getting desperate. Pegasus was not the most reputable place in the galaxy, a settlement of a variety of species on the fringes of the galaxy, even more fringe than Earth. It was known for its loose laws and criminal nation-states, but casinos were legal and it was temperate near the equator, making it a lovely vacation destination. Suffice to say, a little human getting dumped on a planetful of criminals wasn't the most reassuring thing to Dawn.

Puritas whipped around and opened her mouth angrily, but instead of an insult, there came a blaring horn. Was this some skill that Ibis had? No, it was just the warning siren going off at the same time as Puri's mouth opening.

"The alarm?" Puri and Dawn said in unison. There was a resounding crunch and the ship lurched, the artificial gravity shifting nauseatingly, stabilizing shakily after a few moments.

"What's going on?" Puri asked, voice shaky. Dawn had no idea, either.

"Are we under fire? Is this an asteroid field?" Dawn writhed in her restraints. "Hey! Let me out of these shackles, Ibis. This is MY ship." Things were going south, fast, Dawn's heart was thudding in her chest, blood rushing in her ears. She had a sinking, sneaking suspicion she knew what was going on.

Puri fidgeted. She was not the best with flying, and this WAS Dawn's ship. Another rumble racked the hull and Puri groaned, reluctantly moving to unsubdue her captive. Looks like no one stayed captured for long on THIS vessel.

Without saying another word, Puri took Dawn's hand in her big claw, tugging her down the hall on her smallish legs towards the cockpit. Her hands were warm, despite their metallically chitinous appearance, squeezing Dawn with care, making sure not to crush them.

Once they were in the cockpit, the windshield open to them, Dawn saw what they were drawing fire from.

"Look!" Puri cried. She pointed at it, as if that were necessary. Barreling through space parallel to Dawn's ship to their right was the nose of a massive cruiser, sleek and white, completely dwarfing Dawn's little dinghy. Static crackled to life in the inter-vessel com mic, a saccharine, syrupy voice eminating from it. The other ship was trying to talk to them.

"Miss Corona, daaaaarling, are you quite sure you're headed in the right direction to deposit a bounty? The drop-off office is on the other side of the galaxy! Why don't you let me take your little charge off your hands, mmmmm?"

It was the voice of Bounty hunter Austen Tayshen, femme fatale, the scourge of criminals and ticket-dodgers the galaxy over.

"She and I go waaaaaay back." Austen sang through the com. A volley of warning shots spread over the right side of Dawn's vessel.

Dawn, of course, knew Austen from her time at the lodge, the two of them were long-time rivals, always snatching marks from each other, but Dawn was alarmed to find that Puri knew Austen, too.

"You KNOW her?" Dawn demanded, pointing out at the ship baring down on them. Puri sheepishly covered her face in her hands. "She's the worst, most vindictive bitch in the Hunter's Guild! How does someone like YOU know her?"

"Um." Puri squirmed, her expression uncomfortable. "She's my ex."


	3. Sneakin'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dawn and Puri have to work together to overcome a new threat, someone from both of their pasts: Four-armed alien bitch extraordinaire, Austen Tayshen.

"Unidentified assailant, this is Mining Vessel XJ-9 from Alphonz-5. We believe you have us mistaken for someone else. Highly advise you cease all hostilities lest the authorities get involved." Dawn spoke confidently into the com, eyeing the ship baring down on them from outside. Puritas stood back, fiddling with her massive, chitinous hands. It struck Dawn how much Puri looked like a lost child like that, fidgeting and nervous, like a kid who'd lost their mother.

The com crackled to life. "That may fool your little human friends, but I hear you louuuud and clear, Dawn darling." The voice of Austen Tayshen was unmistakable. Dawn groaned. So much for her little gambit.

From outside, there was a thud. This time it was not a warning shot, but the sensation of an actual impact, though not from a blaster, it was something tactile making contact with the ship.

"Um! They're boarding us." Puri said, pointing at a long tunnel that had joined the two ships from the side.

It looked like, for now, they were caught. The FTL engine disengaged slowly, the two ships slowing down to more Euclidean speeds. Puri looked back at Dawn, fearfully, as though the human might have some kind of plan. Thing did not bode well for two women who'd been captured twice each in one day.

The duo rushed to the loading bay to meet their assailants head on.

"Take this." Dawn pressed a blaster into Puri's hands. It looked comically small in those big grippers and Puri could barely hold the thing with proper aim. "Actually..." Dawn took the blaster back, deciding it would be best if the giant alien didn't accidentally set off the damn blaster at an inopportune moment. She did, however, hand Puri a large woden board that was too large for the little human to wield.

"Alright. When she gets off the loading bay, whack her. I'll hold off any reinforcements she might've brought." Dawn hissed. Puri nodded. "Wait," Dawn whirled back, confused and irritated, "What the hell am I do?! You can just kill them all! Why don't YOU do something, you freeloading hijacker!"

"I don't want to kill anyone. Even someone gross like Austen." Puri was shaking, frustration clear on her face. "Stop calling me names! You don't even know me."

"Look, I'm sorry, but i'm under a lot of pressure here, and it's not like I make friends with a lot of galactic criminals. To be fair I don't have a lot of reason to trust you but I guess I don't have much of a ch-"

Dawn was cut off by a distressing sight. When the duo got to the loading bay, it appeared Austen had already boarded and was meandering around on her own. So much for getting the drop on her. Dawn cursed, tugging Puri into a hallway before Austen spotted them.

"Daaaaawn, sweetie! Let your old friend in. Didn't you miss me?" Austen's voice rang through the corridors, slow and taunting.

Austen Tayshen was a tall, slender woman, resembling a human if a human had been stretched vertically by a foot or two and had two extra arms added. The four-limbed, seven foot tall lady meandered around the ship like she owned the place, thoroughly amused by the whole charade. It made Dawn's blood boil.

"How... How do you know Miss Tayshen?" Puri asked, cocking her head to the side as Dawn peeked around the corner, both blasters at the ready in her hands.

"Shh!" Dawn shooshed her captive-turned-captor-turned-cohort. Puri peeked around the corner, too. Austen was a lot more fearsome than this little soft human, but more than that, Puri seeing her ex seemed like it was causing her a fair bit of stress, Puri's fidgeting and whining threatened to betray their position. Thankfully, though, Austen seemed to have left her crew back on the ship. Dawn's jaw clenched so hard a vein popped in her forehead.

"That smug bitch." She muttered, eyes trained on Ms. Tayshen. "She didn't even bring backup! She probably thinks this is a cakewalk. We'll show HER." Puri didn't seem so sure.

"God, I can't believe it, a real bounty hunter..."

A real bounty hunter? God, Puri had to go and open her big mouth. Dawn sprang from their hiding place, face beet-red, and with fists clenched and eyes squeezed shut, she burst out,

"MmmmmSHE'SNOTAREALBOUNTYHUNTER!" At Dawn's outburst, Puri's eyes widened. "SHE'S A LYING, CONNIVING, THIEVING VULTUROUS HAG WHO MANIPULATES HER CREW INTO ADORATION AND ADMIRATION OR JUST PLAIN BLACKMIL AND THREATS AND THEN USES THEM LIKE A BUNCH OF SLAVES TO DO HER DIRTY WORK AND TAKE ALL THE CREDIT!" Puri tried to quiet Dawn down with her hands, but she'd really set the human off. "SHE SABOTAGES AND KILLS THE COMPETITION AND THEN MAKES IT LOOK LIKE AN ACCIDENT SO SHE CAN STEAL THEIR BOUNTIES! AND ALSO SHE'S A REALLY CREEPY, GROSS PERVERT WHO'S MORE INTERESTED IN LOCKING NAIVE GIRLS IN HER QUARTERS THAN ACTUALLY TRAINING THEM!"

After her outrage had subsided, Dawn's eyes went wide and she clapped her hands over her mouth. Over Dawn's shoulder, a menacing shadow began to grow.

"I heard screaming, so it muuuust be little Dawnie." Austen said, putting a hand on Dawn's shoulder. Dawn shrugged it off, holding two guns out directly towards Austen's head.

"Don't move!" Dawn cried, hands shaking. Austen didn't seem all to intimidated, holding her own guns out directly at Dawn's head, one of them at Puri.

"Awww, jeez. She looks mad, now..." Puri said. She looked back at Dawn. "It's not fair. She has four arms so she can hold more guns. That's cheating."

"Why, there's little Puritas!" Austen cooed. Austen's hair was short and slick, and with one of her free hands she casually ran a hand through those raven-colored locks. "Goooodness, are you two lovebirds eloping? A cuuuute little star crossed lover story? Goodness, a woman hates to interrupt matters of the heart." Austen turned her attention back to the duo, her red-painted lips curled into the most condescending, sinister smile. "Now. Dawnie. Just hand over the girl nice and easy, no more playing huntress, okay? While you're at it, return my calls, won't you?"

Austen was barely regarding Dawn. In fact, her eyes were trained on Puri, looking at the girl like she were a bear about to maul her, giving Dawn about as much consideration as a fly on the wall.

It did not matter how imposing or discomforting or terribly frightening Austen was, Dawn had to appear stoic. Tough. Determined! She'd never be taken seriously if she couldn't stand up to her former mentor and captain! Too bad the rest of her did not agree, every survival instinct screaming to either flee, relinquish her prize, or sell out and kiss ass. Boy, she really did not like whatever impulse was driving that last action.

"Listen here, you four-armed harpy," Dawn's voice shook. Not a great start, but she pressed on. "First off, stop drunk dialing me! I'm not coming back to your dumb ship or your dumb crew! I am not gonna live the rest of my life as your cabin girl! Or bed warmer, or whatever creepy thing strikes your fancy in the late hours! I have respect now. Honor. I'm a success!"

She tried to thump her hand to her chest to look prideful again. As before, it didn't quite work.

"Second of all, this is my bounty, you sham!" she shuffled between Austen and Puri, glancing over her shoulder at the smaller alien, hissing to Puri in a harsh loud whisper. "My bounty who, if she had any sense in her would save our asses by hitting that big red glowing button over on the dash!"

Dawn really didn't want to deal with the results of hitting that button. She'd only just managed to finally shut her off. Even so, Dawn really needed some help, and it didn't seem like Puri was much of a fighter despite all that Ibis strength. Ergo, the emergency button seemed to be the only solution.

Puri grit her teeth. The thought of just tearing a hole into the wall and hurtling into space alone sounded really nice now. It would solve all of her present problems, but something about the sight of Dawn made her chest knot. Seeing something that cute evaporate in space's cold inky blackness made Puritas reconsider. She couldn't do that to someone so soft, so sweet! Even if so far Dawn was just acting like a bitchy brat.

She slunk towards the button, eyes fixed on Austen. There was a grim energy between the two, palpable even over the dulcet tones of Austen's voice.

"Daaaawnie. Dawnie. Little Dawn. My little Dawn. First of all, I'm not drunk dialing you. I'm regular dialing you. I just happen to have usually been very intentionally inebriating myself at those times." She flipped her head to the side, casually. "And a sham? Puh-leeeeze! I'm not the one putting around the stars in a garbage can catching every two bit criminal everyone else thinks is beneath them." She scoffed, putting a hand on Dawn's shoulder, the other right hand on Dawn's waist. "And you really. Reeeeeeally don't understand what that thing can do..." She cast a cold look at Puri over Dawn's shoulder. "Hey, what's she doing with that button-?"

Dawn really would've loved to give Austen a piece of her mind (and nothing else), but before she could so much as begin forming the syllables of a response, Puri hit the button.

Good. Now she just had to survive the rest of this.

"Emergency protocol" apparently translated to "slam the gas." As soon as that button was pushed, every thruster and engine in that rusty junk heap kicked to a hundred and twenty percent life. Despite being a garbage can, she'd managed to get some work done. No wonder it looked like a piece of shit; all the improvements had been internal.

Of course, it was by no means fast enough to tear away from Austen's ship, but it was powerful enough to drag the vessel alongside it, sending the two ships spinning wildly as it tried to take off to nowhere. This had the added effect of sending everyone inside the ship flying! Dawn hoped that the living cannonball that was Puri would have some sense and tackle Austen.

Ultimately, however, Dawn had another goal in mind. Even if they did catch Austen off guard, they still needed to get away, which meant she needed some help. Help in the form of something she had sealed away, and for good reason. As she dragged herself up to the controls, she started to frantically type in commands, stirring something dangerous to life.

"What is going on?!" Puri hollered, colliding with Austen as she and the four-armed hunter were plastered against the wall, each of Austen's blasters scattering every which-way.

"I'm going to wake her up." Dawn called back, grimly, taking a slow, deep breath before hitting the "enter" key.

"Wake who up?!"

Dawn turned back to Puri, her eyes set with a look of dread.

"SAL."


	4. Captures and Counter-Captures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Austen gets more than she bargained for when Dawn re-activates a troublesome old friend.

If Puri had known the big red button would send the ship spinning like crazy, she definitely wouldn't have pressed it. Once the ships began to spin, Puri slammed into the wall, hard. For her sturdy body, it didn't do much damage, but she found herself pinned there, unable to squirm away, the G-Forces of the ship were too great. After a moment, everyone was slammed into a wall, even Austen, her guns flying from her hands.

But, suddenly- The spinning started to slow down. As it did, a voice came over the ship's speakers, a lilting, cheerful voice. It boomed over the whole ship,

"I see you're trying to disengage with a foreign ship's dock. Let me help you with that." The voice was robotic, buzzing and humming to a vocoded rendering of human speech. A panel slid open with a hiss, steam streaming from it, obfuscating a silhouette of a tall, humanoid figure.

There was never a mix of utter disdain and 'praise be' joy as hearing that gracefully synthesized voice creep into Dawn's ears, the appearance of that shiny chrome chassis arriving with style and panache. Oh, and the ship not spinning at dizzying speeds was a welcome change of pace as well.

Out stepped a regal-looking sleek robot, hands on her hips, a smile on her synthetic face. She looked unaffected by the G-forces, peering around the room as if scanning it.

"Hello, Dawn." Said the Robot, her synthetic face-display curling into an unmistakably sly smile.

"Heeeeey Sal," she said, trying to stifle the panic and irritation in her voice...oh boy, she was going to regret that, "Look, I really, really, really need some help here, and if you save my butt, I'll. Ugh, I can't believe I'm saying this. But if you help me, I'll...promise not to shut you down again for at least a month. And...I'll. Owe you one favor of your choosing." She was really going to regret this.

"Dawn, Dawn, my little strawberry cheesecake." The robot stroked Dawn's face lovingly, shaking her head, scoldingly, acting like a mildly disappointed mother. "You know you can deny a ship's dock access if you reroute the process into discretion mode." The robot chuckled. She stepped towards a panel near the wall, typing on it casually, as if there were not three beings all stuck to a wall around her. "But of course you don't know that. That's why you woke me up again! You never learn, do you, my tiny blueberry scone?"

As normal gravity returned to the ship, Austen stood up, gasping. "God, you still have that failed prototype?" Her boots clacked on the floor as she made a dash for Puri. Puri looked absolutely terrified, eyes widening like dinner plates. "Whatever. I have what I came for!"

"Hey!" Dawn scrambled for one of the many blasters that had been strewn about in the kerfuffle, but before she managed to take aim at Austen: Bonk. Puri's massive fist collided with Austen's face.

"Ah!" Puri squeaked as Austen crumpled to the floor.

"Goodness, me, Dawn, darling. What a ragtag team of ladies you've assembled. Are you trying to make me jealous? I'm flattered." The robot walked over to survey the downed Austen, prodding her with a metal toe.

"Sal!" Dawn cried urgently. "This is fuck-around-play-time, this is serious! Austen's whole crew is going to be on us as soon as they get their bearings!" Dawn looked absolutely panicked, but Austen was collected as could be.

"Dawn, come now. None of this senseless shouting." Sal moved swiftly down the hallway, towards the control room. Dawn trotted along like an indignant puppy.

"I'm going to do us all a favor and scramble our locator. It means we won't be able to tell where we are for an hour, but it also means they won't be able to follow us. We still have their captain, after all. They'll want it back eventually." This robot, "Sal" apparently, seemed to have an iron grip on the situation.

"Miss Ibis." Sal said, pointing a finger at Puri. "Take Miss Austen to the holding cell so she doesn't cause any trouble." Puri nodded quickly, still a bit shaken from her drubbing session. Dawn clenched her fists at her sides. She hadn't wanted to resort to awakening this smug AI. "Dawn, do clue me in on what's going on while I shake these nasty interlopers." Puri dragged Austen off down the hall, returning empty handed in short order.

Deep breaths, Dawn. She clasped her hands, gesturing towards her guest, "Sal. This is Puritas Falsus. She's an Ibis, believe it or not." She might have muttered something under her breath about 'not a very good one', but any bitterness was soon lost as she spoke again, "She is...er. Was. The bounty that was going to skyrocket me to the top. But...now."

Ugh. That's right. Whether she liked it or not, Puri had inadvertantly helped her wind up from being Austen's plaything again. And caught her no less! Even if her presence was the whole reason she showed up.

"But now. She's a... Crew mate, I guess." Dawn rubbed her forearm.

"Well, sit tight, crew mate. We are going to give these boys the ole one-two slip." Sal grabbed hold of the wheel, tugging forwards as the FTL drives roared back to life. It was a relief to slip away from Austen's ship, and a relieved sigh broke out over the trio. Dawn and Puri both slumped against opposite walls, taking the first easy breath they had since hearing Austen's voice. Sal, from the driver's seat, broke the humming silence.

"Miss Dawn. My delightful little peach cobbler. I think that since we are here, unpursued by Austen's men, nice, safe and calm, I have finished my half of the little bargain you presented." To Sal's left, Dawn straightened up again.

"Deal?! What deal?"

Sal hit a button on her belt area. A recording played back, of Dawn's voice. "Look, I really, really, really need some help here, and if you save my butt, I'll. Ugh, I can't believe I'm saying this. But if you help me, I'll...promise not to shut you down again for at least a month. And...I'll. Owe you one favor of your choosing."

Sal was smiling a gentle smile, her fingers tenting together.

"I'd like to cash in, as it were."

Puri nodded, any subtext based on Sal and Dawn's history completely lost on her.

"That was nice of you, Dawnie." Puri said, adopting the same nickname as the robot and the bounty hunter had used with an alarming measure of casualness. "What are you going to ask for, Sal? To be a real girl?"

Sal scoffed. "Are you kidding me? And join the mortal coil with you meat sacks? Hard pass." Sal put a soft hand on Puri's shoulder.

"But I do need you to do something for me, Miss Ibis." Puri blinked. She cast her eyes cast up to the robot, reverently. Sal continued, "Guard Austen. Make sure she doesn't send anyone our way or alert her associates to our location. I can trust you with this, can't I, cutie?"

Taken in by the most base of praise, Puri nodded excitedly. It wasn't every day that people regarded her with feelings other than fear and hostility, so any opportunity to keep that going was good enough for her. She scampered off, back to where Austen was being held, leaving Dawn and Sal alone.

"God, she's cute." Sal turned to Dawn. "Now. My favor."

Puri slunk down the hall, leaving robot and human to their business. Puritas had some business of her own, as well, business she'd rather keep under wraps, especially from Dawn. Once Puri reached the cell, she peeked inside to make sure Austen was still out like a light. Sure enough, she was limp in her bindings, dead to the world. Good.

Puri withdrew a coms device from inside her pocket, the screen flashing to life as Puri opened it up.

As Puri fiddled with the device, Austen blinked awake, her vision hazy. The last thing she remembered was Puri, knocking her out cold. She tested her hands. No surprise, she was bound up tight. How humiliating, her old employee and ex girlfriend capturing her after she tried to capture them. There was a lot of capturing and counter-capturing going on these days. She squeezed her eyes shut, shifting in her restraints, the room finally coming into focus.

"...and I've secured a ship, too. I should be able to rejoin you soon."

Dawn's voice bounced through the hallway. She was speaking in a soft, hushed whisper that Austen had to strain to hear. Puri hadn't noticed her eavesdropper, yet.

"I'm so sorry we were separated, Gene... Blowing up the moon was the only way. I know. I know!! It's a setback, but we're still so close to finding The Eye, it-" Puri paused, tensing. She turned back towards Austen, who hastily fell limp, playing dead. "...I have to go." Puri clicked the com shut.

**Author's Note:**

> This began as an RP with my friend Leja, AKA Personaqueen.


End file.
